


Soft Words, Softly Held

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Fireside Tales [22]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Child Abuse, Gen, Rescuing a Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:30:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything he has is something stolen from a daughter his mother does not have, from the clothes on his back to the air he breathes. What isn't stolen from the invisible daughter is stolen from elsewhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soft Words, Softly Held

**Author's Note:**

> Nedrui, age four and a half  
> Prompt: Stolen  
> Alternate Universe: Gaearon Rhûnen/Flame of Durin

Everything he has is something stolen from a daughter his mother does not have, from the clothes on his back to the air he breathes. What isn't stolen from the invisible daughter is stolen from elsewhere. Affection stolen from the great cats who don't know they're not supposed to accept him, and let him pet their kittens. Warmth stolen from the stables, where he can find a place small enough to hide him so no one knows he's there. Words that sound soft, stolen from those who speak without knowing they have an audience.

When the stable-master comes to the house, and tells his mother that she is required to give him over, she doesn't even ask what he's done, what he's stolen, just shoves him roughly away, glad to see him gone.

What he doesn't understand is why he is not told he is a thief and a poor one at that, nor is he put into any place where he is locked in. Perhaps their making him to take the great cats their food is a punishment, but he cannot see it as such. The great cats still accept him, and they do not care that he is being punished for being a thief.

At the end of the day, the stable-master does not take him back to the house he was born in, but to a warm place that is loud and smells of more food than he has ever seen in his life.

"What is your name, little one?" The woman who asks is smiling, and he doesn't know why she would smile at a thief. But she has asked a question, and he knows he will be hurt if he does not answer it. Mother always struck his hands when he failed to answer her.

"Nedrui."

There's a frown on the woman's face, but it's not angry, not like his mother. Maybe it was the wrong answer, but it is all he has ever been called that he is allowed to say. All the other words are only for proper people, not a thief like him.

"Oh, child." She crouches down, and reaches toward him, and he stiffens, biting his lip so he will not cry when she hurts him. It's always worse when he cries.

But she doesn't hurt him, doesn't do anything but wrap her arms around him, and hold him. Softly, like the words he stole from listening to people in the stables. He doesn't know what to do, and so he stays very still until she lets go.

**Author's Note:**

> The home-life of Nedrui is something I don't like the idea of describing in detail, but I have to be aware of in order to build the internal monologue of the character. He's the ninth of nine boys born to a woman who only wants a girl, and she's grown very good at punishing her boys for not being girls. Nedrui, for all that he got some of the worst of her behavior, actually gets something of the best outcome. He finds a place where he has a chance to escape his mother at a relatively young age, and not too many years after this, he has the chance to travel very far. In the end, he becomes the companion to Eowyn and Faramir's son Elboron, along with the great cats he'd been the caretaker for.


End file.
